DD is a junior majoring in CS. After graduation she wants to go into product management at some point in her career. Since her freshman year she was taking Software engineering internships every winter and summer breaks at different companies. By the end of this week she needs to accept an offer for summer internship. She is trying to decide between an offer for another Software Engineering internship and product management internship. She would like to take the product management internship but also knows that companies prefer to hire very technical people for product management role and taking PM internship before graduation might be looked at like lacking technical experience. On the other hand, PM internships are more difficult to find as an undergraduate. Thoughts?
I don’t see how taking a PM internship right before graduation look like lacking technical experience when you had multiple software engineering internships before (especially during the winter, which is impressive as they are hard to get). The only reason why you would take the SE internship again is if your DD is 100% sure about going into a career of SE or hates PM and wants a return offer. Other than that, I would say take the PM internship as it may open new doors.
Well said above. Another consideration is that internships are a great time to see if you actually like something, not just the idea of it. It can also help you figure out what specific qualities you want in a PM job. If she actually doesn’t like being a PM, now is a great time to find out. I would 100% vote the PM job as well and it shouldn’t be looked down upon at all.